Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1887-05-06

TN : TIC boy Drown ncaI, that LIE HAShu
check tbs sud- n outburst Of pas tomato
gratitude. NOW go along with Terry, and
mind you do what hs bids You. There, 50
along.n
II occurred TO both the officers at the same
moment that h. was by no means an ILL
locking boy. True, he was undersizsd
AID rneacer, snl he face was piachel AMI
wl.it,. to lips very light and drawn. But,
though his face was car stained and TIE blue
eyes red with wcariag, lie WAS not dirty.
IN fact, his nightly porlormanceF prevented
any possibility OF that, AMI IL had always
been considered che OF the bestl 'oking boys
in the troupe.
Poor little chap!' said Bootles, as the
door closed behind the groom and the boy.
Pm glad l happened to be passing just
then"
''Vewry lucky for him." murmlred Lacy.
''His fortunes made"
Bottles laughed. "Oh, nonsensel I've
no doubt he will turn out a very smart
groom; and, as 1 said lust now, Terry has
been needing help badly for long time"
He then told Lacy eli the details OF the
scene he had witnessed-how Frisco had sent
the lad up the ladder twice, when 1t was evil
IDENTIFY impossible LIE could perform the feat
how he had threatened to make him try it
without the netting spread for protection
below, and had even gone SO far as to begin
to undo the ropes which held 1t IL place.
Finally, how he had knocked him down,
and then made him get up and take regu-
lar sound hiding, just by way Of letting him
know what the cut Of that particular whip
was Ike.
'.But let the brute of too easily" Bottles
wound up, regretfully II almost wish l
had given him little more"
~ don't suppose he doss." laughed Lacy,
rising "Well, must lie off,"
1t was surprising how soon young Houp-
La, or Tom Snow, as he soon came to be
called, settled down into his new life. He
took 10 il a5 Q young duck takes to water.
Within week LIE was wearing tie dariin-
ambition of his hcaIt-that is, top boots and
tall Lat with coclade-an1 had achieved
as smart salute and ''yessir' as any groom
in the regiment. Bottles declared he was
the sharpest- witted boy he had ever known,
at which, of course, neither Bottles nor any
one elsa wondered when his training was
taken into consideration.
He was popular, too, with everybody,
high and low. He worked hard at his les
sons-he would do anything to pleass Terry
and be adored Boobies. All his masters
belongings were sacred in his eyes, and his
orders once given were as unalterable as the
laws Of the Modes and Persians. In Toms
eyes there was no officer in the regiment
the regirnentl nay, in the who's of the ser
vics-whom he would admit to bs as trong
or as clever, as handsome or as rich, as his
master; not one who could ride, or drive, or
shoot, or do any mortal thing with same
degree Of excellence to which the cap'n at
fofn No boI orlx al
''capting," and now clipped the word as
short as any soldier in the barracks. In
fact, in Toms eyes, Bottles, like the king,
could do no wrong.
The winter months wore away, and by
and by the Scarlet Lanoers were moved
from Idleminster to Aldershot, when Tom
numbered among his experiences O different
kind Of march to those which he had shared
with the travelling wagons Of the circus, for
his master chose him to accompany Terry
with his second charger, partly because he
was an unusually light weight, and partly
because he wanted to keep him under his
own eye.
By that time Tom was thoroughly du fat
Of all tic ms and outs Of barrack life, had
learned to speak very much better than
when Ferrers had rescued him out of Frisco's
cruel hands; could already read page fairly
well, II the words were not too long. and
could write his own name legibly by dint Of
sprawling his left leg well out and lolling
some two inches of his tongue out of the
mouth which was not nearly SO pinched and
tight as it had been aforetima
"Ahl he's all very smart and that Just
now" sold Hartog one day to Bottles; ''but
wait few months until the change has had
time to work. He'll get fat, and then where
| will your nice smart lad BET Simply not
worth his salt"
But Tom never did get fat not even plump.
He ate well and Heartily, but though his lips
| grew less tight and his blue eyes rather less
anxious and bright-lsss unnaturally bright,
should say-he never came to be any thing
! but a skinny slip of a lad, with O pinched,
/ pale face and deadly sharp tongue, and he
| did not seem to grow at all. No ono was
| sorry for that. Neither BOTTLES nor Terry
wished him any taller or heavier. The lad
| himself boosted of his small size and weight
| He had no further ambitions-he had, in
fact, reached the summit of his hopes and
desires. Capt. Ferrers nseded lightweight
about his horses, and very often a sharp
| groom about himself Tom supplied both
needs to nicely. He had no desire to grow
into man, because he was perfectly happy
| 10 Supts Ci1ciS liz uul huOWu
weather, and now that he had got into port
which seemed only suited for small craft he
was not anxious to 60 into three-decker.
Thus more than two years passed. away,
and many changes came about in the Scar
let Lancers, such changes as do come about
in regiment during so long space of time
A very graceful poet sings touchingly and
tenderly upon that theme:
All are scattered now, and fed;
Some are married, some are dead.
1t was true of the Scarlet Lancers, as of
! the circle of hfe-and among the married
ones was Bootlesl
But the tale Of Bottles love and marriage
has been told already in the story called
Bottles Baby" 1t is enough to say here
that he married the widow Of brother-ofh
Ger, a lady, who had one little child, whom
for other reasons than for the mothers sake
Bottles loved as his own flesh. But though
he married he did not leave the service; BIZ
WIS, in fact, too thoroughly and really al
hears soldier TO entertain that idea Tor G
moment, and his wife, Mrs. Bottles. as al
the Scarlet Lancors called her. was more
:fan content to do whatever pleased her
good and handsome husband best.
Lscy was still in the regiment; in COM
ulsud Of troop now, but otherwise I'M
changed The same soft speech, the same
gentle manners, the sams kind heart-no'
married, but waiting, as he Always said
from the first he should wait, for Ferrers
little "Mignon." Terry was still Capt. Fer
rers' head groom, and Tom Snow had posi-
lively not grown en- inch.
And then there arose throughout thu
length and breadth Of the civilized world
rumors that affairs were what the young
subalterns in the Scarlet Lancers called
''uncommonly groggy in tie east" and
very soon, from being thus lightly and care
lessly termed "very groggy," affairs in tbs
east began to assume a serious aspect; in
deed, so serious, in truth, that they soon re
solved themselves into Qders for that regi
ment to hold itself IN readiness for active
service.
Next came the news Of the bombardmen